The present invention relates to computer-based navigation systems and navigation programming, and more particularly the present invention relates to an improved and novel navigation system feature that allows an end-user to define personalized lists that are then used when operating the navigation system.
In-vehicle navigation systems provide a variety of useful navigation functions and features to end-users (i.e., the drivers and/or passengers of the motor vehicles in which the navigation systems are installed). Included among the functions that are provided by some navigation systems are route calculation and route guidance. The route calculation function determines a route to a desired destination location from a given starting location. The route guidance function provides maneuvering instructions for the end-user to follow to drive his/her vehicle to the desired destination location along the route calculated by the route calculation function. When using these functions, the end-user may be required to indicate a desired destination to the navigation system.
In-vehicle navigation systems provide various ways by which an end-user can indicate a desired destination. One way that the end-user can indicate a desired destination is to specify a street address. When used in this manner, the end-user may be required to identify the city in which the destination is located. To facilitate identification of a city by the end-user, some navigation systems present a list of available cities that are located in the geographic area represented by the database used by the navigation system. This list of cities may be presented on a display screen of the navigation system.
Operation of a conventional navigation system is described in connection with FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a display 100 of a conventional navigation system 110 showing a list 112 of cities. A message 120 on the display 100 requests the end-user to make a selection of one of the cities. One of the cities on the display screen 100 is highlighted to indicate a potential selection. In the example of FIG. 1, the highlighting is provided by a rectangular box 122, although in alternative embodiments the highlighting may be provided by any other suitable means. The cities listed on the display screen 100 in FIG. 1 are in alphabetical order. Alternatively, the city names listed on the display screen 100 may be in some other order, such as those cities that had been most recently selected as destinations.
The geographic database used by an in-vehicle navigation system may relate to an entire metropolitan area, such as the Chicago metropolitan area, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and so on. Alternatively, the geographic database may relate to an entire state or even an entire country. Thus, the area covered by the geographic database used by a navigation system may include hundreds of cities. Accordingly, the cities shown in the display screen 100 in FIG. 1 are only a partial list of all the cities included in the geographic database used by the navigation system 110. In order to view additional cities on the display screen 100, the end-user operates controls on an input panel 116 of the navigation system 110. It may be necessary for the end-user to scroll through several screens of information to get to the city to include in the address of the desired destination.
In addition to selecting a city, the end-user may also be prompted to select a street and enter a street address. A menu screen similar to the screen shown on the display 100 of FIG. 1 may be provided to the end-user for selection of a street.
Some navigation system allow an end-user to select a desired destination city by prompting the end-user to spell the name of the city using keys on the input panel 116. Some of these navigation systems facilitate this process by prompting the end-user to enter the first few characters of the name of the desired destination city, displaying an alphabetical listing of all the city names that match the characters entered, and then, as each additional character is entered by the end-user, redisplaying an alphabetical listing of all the city names that match the characters entered until the end-user selects a name of a city from the displayed list.
Using navigation systems in the ways described above to select destinations is convenient for many situations. However, there may be occasions when the end-user does not know the street address of the destination. Also, there may be occasions when the end-user does not know the spelling of the name of the destination city. Accordingly, some navigation systems provide other ways to indicate desired destinations.
In some navigation systems, another way that an end-user can indicate a desired destination is to first use the navigation system to search for destinations of a particular type, and then after obtaining the results of this initial search, selecting one of the locations included in the search results and requesting that a route be calculated to the selected location. When using a navigation system to search for destinations of a particular type, a search area can be defined geographically (e.g., within 3 miles of a present vehicle position), or alternatively, the search area can be defined by city (e.g., Chicago, Oak Park, Evanston, and so on). When the search area is defined by city, a menu screen like the one shown in FIG. 1 may be presented to the end-user.
Using a navigation system in this manner is also convenient for many situations. However, there may be occasions when still other ways of using the navigation system may be desired. For example, the end-user may not know the name of the city or cities in which to search. Also, a covered geographic area may include many cities thereby requiring scrolling through several screens like the one shown in FIG. 1 to find the desired city. Also, when the navigation system is used to search for destinations of a specified type in a large city, there may be so many matches to the search request that the search results are difficult to use.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide additional ways to use a navigation system for searching. Moreover, this need may become greater as the amount of information included in geographic databases used by navigation systems continues to increase in scope and detail.
Another consideration relates to making navigation systems easy to use. Navigation systems, in particular systems installed in vehicles, make useful information and services available to the end-user in a manner that is not distracting to a person while driving a vehicle. Therefore, improved programming capabilities that can make a navigation system easier to use can be particularly useful.
To address these and other objectives, the present invention comprises a system and method that make a navigation system easier to use. According to one aspect of the disclosed system and method, an end-user is permitted to define at least one preferred cities list. The names of cities included on the preferred cities list are selected by the end-user from all the available cities that are represented in the geographic database used by the navigation system. Thereafter, when the preferred cities list is in use and the end-user operates the navigation system to provide a function that requires that the end-user make a selection of a city, the end-user is presented with a list of the cities from the preferred cities list instead of all the available cities represented in the geographic database used by the navigation system. The preferred cities list is not restricted to cities, but may also include any kinds of places or administrative areas.
According to another aspect of the disclosed system and method, the end-user can define a preferred cities list using a graphical image representation of a geographic area. The end-user defines the boundaries of a shape overlaid on the graphical image representation of a geographic area. Each city or administrative area any part of which is encompassed within the geographic boundaries corresponding to the shape drawn on the graphical image representation is included in a preferred cities list.
According to yet another aspect of the disclosed system and method, the end-user defines a preferred area that is not restricted to city boundaries. The end-user defines the boundaries of a shape overlaid on the graphical image representation of a geographic area. Thereafter, when the preferred area is used and the end-user operates the navigation system to provide a function, the function is limited to only those places, locations, and so on, that are within the geographic area corresponding to the defined shape.
In another aspect of the disclosed system and method, an end-user can define hierarchical preferred cities lists. According to this alternative embodiment, a first preferred cities list can include one or more other preferred cities lists or preferred areas as well as individually named cities. A first preferred cities list formed in this manner includes all the cities on the included preferred cities lists and in the included preferred areas as well as all the individually named cities.